Part 14: Update XIV - The Malthur Gambit

Update XIV - The Malthur Gambit



After the events of the last update, the theorizing and discussion continued:







We seem to be getting closer to the solution, but there's still a few particular nuances that we don't know yet that play a fairly important role in the whole thing.



Our next destination is the ball room to investigate the scene of the... let's call it an "incident".



I have to be careful... those guys are surely still all over the place...



We can't just waltz directly into the ball room because of the guards posted...



...however, we still have that alternative of just looking through the window out on the balcony!



OH SWEET JESUS ON A POLE.

BY THE GODS! WHAT HAPPENED HERE?



This warrants further examination. Thankfully, we can just waltz in through the left entrance - I guess nobody thought that one was important?



Well, this entire room is a mess, as you can no doubt tell. One guy got his leg torn off, one guy just got flayed heavily and two guys got beheaded violently. One constant: Everybody had their eyes torn out. Furthermore, there's this green shit on the throne where Xynthia sat.

UGH! WHAT IS THAT DISGUSTING SLIME ON THE CHAIR?
Wait a second... there's something stuck in there... a key!

Neato. We find a copper key to go along with the bronze key we took off of Priamor - I'm sure that'll be useful at some point. Next, let's take a look back to the entrance. Maybe we can just sneak out and get help from somewhere?



Nope!

Oh my! So this is where those guys were hiding!
And that's Libra and Tarius over there. So they didn't make it after all!
Seems that nobody's paying attention to this entrance for now... maybe I can pick up on something that can help me later.

You've been here for a week, Karlo! Didn't you notice anything?
Just calm down, boss. They've been acting decent and unsuspicious the entire time. There was no reason to believe...
Decent and unsuspicious, eh? When I take a look at you, I can imagine what that means:
They got you totally drunk until you were so boozed up you couldn't notice a thing!
Hey! Now you're being unfair, Alvaro! After all, I did open the gates so that you could march in here!
After you've been twiddling your thumbs for a week! We've been waiting down in the forest for something to happen the entire time!
But that's not the important part here...
...the important part is that we lost four men in there! And for that, Karlo, I'm holding you personally responsible!
I'm giving you one more chance to make up for your mistakes! Grab some men and look for the people that fled! We're still missing the padre and the chamberlain. And if you find the young warrior or the old guy, bring them here ALIVE.
And concerning the lady of the castle... well, I think you know already.
Alright, Alvaro! I hope we won't lose even more men because of this!
Umm... I can't think of anything to do here at the moment!

So we run back to the hallway.

These guys are surely not working for the duke. I suspect that they're just regular bandits!

Bandits with plate armor and inside men? I don't think so. This smacks of mercenary group to me - however, whoever the guy paying for them is is still unclear. For now, let's look around the castle some more - we should check on the servants and see if they're OK.



Nobody in the kitchen... maybe they're in the cellar?



Oh dear, Matjes! They found us!

Pfffahaha. Matjes? Matjes. Fucking Matjes. For those not in the know, Matjes are a kind of specifically preserved herring, made from particularly young herrings. They're also called "soused herring". It's pretty big in the northern parts of Germany, especially the big seafaring areas - personally, it's not my bag. Who would name their kid that? I hope to God that's a nickname, because otherwise...

Thank the Gods, you found us! We saw men in armor running around the castle, so we hid down here!
Those guys stormed the ball room during the festivities. They claim to be working for the duke!
We however managed to escape and now we're trying to get the situation under control. Furthermore, a terrible creature is wandering through the corridors. You can't stop it and it mauls everything that gets in its way!
What should we do, sir? If we're found down here...
1) Flee to the secret passages! 2) Head upstairs! 3) Stay where you are!

The secret passages are probably the best place. The mercs don't know about them (probably) and Sylvia's currently too brainless to find them, either.

Of course, sir! Why didn't we think of it before, Matjes? The secret passages are the safest place in the world!
Many thanks, sir! When this all blows over, I will cook my best menu for you!

And off they go. Let's see what Fitzgerald is doing.



You again? And at this time? Have you gone crazy?
Don't get all fluffed up, Fitz! I've come to warn you! There are foes in this castle and you'd better hide!
How dare you speak to me in this tone! Explain yourself! What is the matter?
I don't owe you any kind of explanation! Do whatever you want, you old fool, I just wanted to give you some advice!
Umm... pardon me, I just wanted to go to bed, so I was a bit irritated... what happened?
A monster is wandering through the hallways and is killing everything it runs into! Furthermore there's a bunch of armed guys claiming to work for the duke that stormed the castle!
But that's terrible! What should I do? I'm just an old man that did nothing but faithfully attend to his duties!
1) Flee to the secret passages! 2) Head upstairs! 3) Stay where you are!

Same train of thought, same result.

Yes... you're right. That's probably the safest place in the castle right now. I'll be on my way immediately!



And while he's gone, we can steal all his crap! An elixir and 2500 bucks, not bad at all.



Now, let's take a look around the secret passages ourselves, because Dankwart has a few things he should probably take a look at, and there's probably some new stuff around here to check out too.



The servants holed up down here and seem to be doing fine. Now, what's behind that door that was guarded the last time we came around?



Ah, this must be the cell that contains those prisoners that got an off-hand mention or two previously. Let's get their story.

Hello, you two - could you come over here?

Who are you? Did you come to bring us to the execution?
Bring you to the execution? Nonsense! Why should I? What did you do?
Nothing bad, sir. We were in the forest looking for mushrooms when the guards came down and arrested us. They said the mushrooms belonged to Lady Xynthia von Rabenstein and taking them is punishable by death.
What nonsense - the death penalty for taking some mushrooms! And that judgment was supposed to be enforced today?
Yes, sir. The guards have been making jokes about it all day.
My name is Grandy, and I've come to get you out of there!
You want to help us? THANK YOU SO MUCH! I thought we'd never get to leave this castle again!
Break the door open? 1) Yes 2) No

Eh, you know what? I don't think letting these folks out is such a smart idea, what with the whole Sylvia problem still going on. They look like they've been stuck there for a while, they can sit tight a bit longer while we deal with this.

There are very strange things going on here. I think that right now there's no safer place for you than here... behind bars.
I'll get you out of there as soon as the danger is gone, promise!

Now I REALLY hope Sylvia doesn't find her way down here, otherwise we'll have a fucking massacre on our hands. Moving on...



We run into Burger in the secret passages as well. Now we pretty much know he's bad news, so odds are that we're going to have to put him down like Priamor. Let's see how it goes...

So you managed to get away too. Good to see you!
Sorry, but I can't share that pleasure - I want to know what's going on here!
What do you mean by that? These... frauds stormed the castle and I'm on the run just like you!
Come on, don't be telling lies! I know exactly what's been going on here! You're in cahoots with Father Priamor! What did you do to Lady Sylvia?
You ask too many questions! You have to die!



Welp. This guy is just pathetic. Basically, take Priamor, take away his black magic, take away about half of his HP, and still keep the crippling weakness to being paralyzed, and you've got Burger. A complete joke. Moving on...



He's got a key!

We find a silver key this time. Conveniently enough, the locked door in this same room happens to be the door where the key fits!



We now find ourselves in Burger's room, and it's surprisingly roomy. We've got a few things to find here.



Holy smokes! There's a full set of armor in here!

Let's nab that and the other two sets of armor we can find in this room. File it under the same header as the makeup - "this is very important just trust me guys".



Anybody that calls themselves a warrior always has a bunch of medical supplies at home.
And of course some healing potions!

Four more healing potions for our inventory. We're really making off like a bandit here, and it's not like anybody's going to need them anymore.



But now, here's the real reason we came here.

Hmm... seems to be a letter.
Oh my, this one's from the duke himself!



Dear Lady Xynthia,

we've been neighbors for so long now, and still you haven't done me the honor of a visit. With the exception of you making your tithe payments on the mark each year we have no contact at all. That shall change now!

For quite some time I've been planning to hold a glittering feast on Castle Düsterburg, to which I will invite my friends from old days and my most loyal servants. I would be delighted if you could be present on the Düsterburg on the 12th of October.

Wahnfried

Hmm... so here it says that the lady always pays her tithe on time...
Another sign that those guys aren't working for the duke!

We grab that letter and take it with us - who knows when it'll be useful.



When we leave Burger's room through the other exit, we end up back down here, which makes for an interesting shortcut that bypasses some of the patrolling guards, so we'll keep that in mind.



Moving on, we find that this door is suddenly not quite closed. I wonder what's in there...



NO NO NO NO NO LEAVING NOW

...wait a second, if she's here, then that means...



...Priamor's room is now empty and we can search it in peace! Alright!



Hello there! That's the same statue as the one in the fireplace room. This guy must be quite popular!

Ah yes, the one in the fireplace room which I failed to snatch a picture of because I didn't think it was relevant. Well, it still isn't really relevant, since all you need to know is that there are these statues of this warrior bloke.



Grandy! These books are all about black magic! I can't find a single one that isn't on the index of magical scriptures!

Well, if we didn't murder Priamor so thoroughly, we'd have seen him throw some of that black magic around. As it stands, he was a practitioner but never really got to prove it.



Hmm... an old, leather-bound book. 1) Read it? 2) No time!

Of course we've got time!

These are all sorts of hand-written notes... clearly done by several people. The stuff in the beginning looks like it's several centuries old. Completely incomprehensible scrawlings.
Some kinds of alchemistic symbols and other nonsense! Well... towards the end the whole thing gets a bit more comprehensible.
The last entries were made just a little while ago! The ink has barely dried!
Dankwart, if you could take a look... this seems to fall into your area of expertise.
Hmm... this seems to be about all sorts of blasphemous practices.
These notes are obviously made to pass on the knowledge of a dark ritual from generation to generation.
This is clearly about the art of bringing the spirit of a dead person to possess a living body, so that the spirit can survive for several generations!
This is incredibly dark magic - the soul of the target body is completely wiped out in the process!
The ritual must take place at midnight and seven human sacrifices must be made to the newly created creature before dawn!
By the gods! Until the sacrifices have been made the target body is completely soulless! It mutates to a monster that only has one goal - finding its sacrifices!
If the sacrifices are not made until dawn, the body disintegrates and both souls are eradicated!
Now I'm getting to the most recent notes...



So it will be tonight! Finally! A few new sheep for the slaughter arrived. Don't look like they'll give in to their fate without a fight, but I think the guards will be able to deal with them! May all the demons of hell do their part so that our plans may succeed. Only once in a generation we can find somebody daring enough to take this risk on! I hope I'll prove myself worthy of bringing this to a successful end, especially since this should be the last reincarnation, as long as the prophets are correct! Because then the LORD will return to his home and his wife will welcome him. She, whose soul went from body to body during the years of his wanderings will welcome him on Rabenstein and everybody that served this goal loyally will fill the highest offices in his recreated empire of darkness!

Grandy, are you aware what this means?
Umm... no... but you're going to tell me now, right?
We were witness of such a ritual tonight and we were supposed to belong to the sacrifices, but the ritual was interrupted!
There's an insane beast roaming the hallways, only out to find its victims!
Umm... then maybe we should get the hell out of here and wait until morning... didn't you say that everything would be over then?
Grandy! You forget the situation in Düsterburg! There is no morning here! We have to stop the creature before it kills more people!
And how do you suggest we do that? You saw that we don't have the slightest chance against that beast!
I know a few old rituals for exorcising evil spirits - however, they're all rather time-consuming.
Somebody would have to distract the creature while I prepare...
Am I hearing that right? I'm supposed to get my brains bashed in while you're preparing your magic in the back row?
I'm sorry, Grandy, but there seems to be no other way!
Oh, to hell with it! Let's just get this over with! Up and away, for monsters we will slay!

Grandy calls us "auf zur fröhlichen Monsterjagd" here, which I believe is a reference to an old hunting song from the 1700s, "Auf, auf, zum fröhlichen Jagen". Can't really translate that, so I went with a little rhyme.

Now that's the Grandy I know and love!

We'll take this book with us as well. Might as well.



While meandering through Priamor's room, we find his bed and what I assume was the stuff he read before going to bed.

What kind of books are those? I'm already blushing just from reading the titles!

Interesting. What's that book on the cupboard?

"The Buxom Babes of Düsterburg"... somebody's got quite the raunchy taste!

Well, I guess we'll leave it at that. We also find some more potions in the cupboard. Moving on...



...we've got a bit of stuff to deal with in this part of the secret passages.



Oh my, I certainly didn't expect an alchemist's laboratory here!

Dankwart, being a scientist in the medieval sense, has quite a bit of experience on this matter and will be able to give a bit more interesting commentary on the stuff around here, like the oven:

A smelting furnace for lead!
Apparently somebody's trying to turn lead into gold here!

Or the bookcase:

A whole bunch of books - I can't even understand the titles!
Standard literature for an alchemist. All kinds of stuff I already chewed through while I was studying in Königsberg.
Seems like we're dealing with a real beginner here!

And the best part of all:



Now what is this supposed to be?
Pah! Blasphemy! This thing is called a globe! Some blinded followers of the Dark God preach that the world is a sphere!

Certainly has some interesting implications about the theology of this world, but it's sadly just a throwaway gag that is never expanded upon.



Next up, that sacrificial room we found earlier.

This is a room for cultists of the Dark God!
Thought so...

The door in this room is locked, but the copper key we found in the ball room fits perfectly, so in we go!



This leads us to another secret passage...



...with another secret secret room.



This one has three elixirs (neat) and a set of knight's armor (not to be confused with the sets of armor we found in Burger's room. Also, it's worse than the mithril mail we got in Düsterburg. Rubbish).



Walking along the hallway, we find ourselves in another new room, so let's check this one out. That big picture is a good place to start, I presume.



Hmm... looks familiar.

That's Lady Sylvia...
But this painting is clearly older than 18 years...
It could also be Lady Xynthia in her earlier years... the two did look fairly similar...
But honestly, this painting seems like it's several centuries old!
And that guy back there... looks just like that warrior statue that I saw before!
The more I learn about the inhabitants of this castle, the more mysteries I uncover!



At this point, we've collected enough facts about the happenings on the castle that Dankwart has an epiphany and finally figured it out.

Finally, I just realized what's been going on here, and I'm an old fool for not having figured it out earlier!
It would be nice if you shared this knowledge with the others...
Grandy, the spirit that's supposed to be sent into Sylvia's body... that's Lythia, the wife of Malthur, the founder of this castle!
Priamor and his predecessors have been conducting this inhuman ritual for centuries now! They've already sacrificed dozens of innocent souls for their dark plans!
But what is their goal?
These disgusting sycophants want to kiss their idol's ass once he returns... pardon my French, Grandy...
So then that's Lythia on that portrait together with her husband! But how can it be that she looks exactly like Lady Sylvia?
Dark ritualistic magic, family ties or fate... I do not know. But there's nothing that the priests of the Dark God aren't capable of doing!
Grandy, it's our holy duty to destroy this creature before it's too late!

Right, so we've pretty much uncovered that part of the story now. The only things left to figure out are "who are those mercenaries and who do they work for" and "what exactly is Wahnfried's involvement in this whole business". Let's see if we can't find the answers to those.



Women's dresses... otherwise, nothing.



We grab a dress from here. File it under the same header as the armor and the makeup. We also find some more potions in the drawers. The game is basically shoving stuff down your throat at this point because I suppose they want to give you an out if you need it. Now that we know what to do, I suppose it's about time we faced down with the mercs.



As long as these guys are blocking the exit, we'll never get out of here! 1) Negotiate? 2) Better retreat again.

Alright, let's talk.

ALVARO! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!
Calm down, people - nobody touches him!
You have an advantage over me, sir... you know my name, but I don't know yours...
My name is for my friends over there!
Now don't start with trite sayings like that! That's not even close to being a sensible basis for a conversation!

Seriously, Grandy, you just keep fucking these things up. You've got Dankwart with you, just let him do the talking!

Alright, my name is Grandy.
Now, that's better... now, Grandy, what do you wish to talk with me about?



You better do this, Dankwart. You know more about this stuff than I do.

God damnit. Now you let him talk?

First of all, a question, Alvaro... what exactly happened in the ball room after Grandy and I managed to escape?
I'm not quite sure myself and would rather not remember...
Lady Xynthia started screaming. I was standing right in front of her and could see her face collapsing incredibly quickly.
Then that Burger attacked me and I was distracted for a moment...
The terrible stench of rot and decay filled the air, and the next thing I saw was this... priest...
He had grabbed the young girl and pressed her against the rotting body of the lady of the castle with all his might!
Then, suddenly, Xynthia's arms rose up into the air with an energy I would have never expected from her.
Her fingernails had changed into long claws. She shoved them deep into the face of her niece and tore both of her eyes out!
Then, suddenly, a jolt went through the young girl's body. She reared up and even seemed to grow!
Xynthia's body then completely collapsed in on itself and this disgusting slime spread out over the chair!
And then the tragedy truly began. This creature that used to be Lady Sylvia started attacking my men.
I could see her tearing one of my strongest men in half like it was nothing!
We lost four men that way... and it could have been more, if not...
Yes?...
This monster wasn't just out to kill everybody that got in its way... it also tore the eyes out of every one of its victims!
That gave me some time to regroup and flee with my men. Sadly, both Burger and the priest got away because of that.
I'm not surprised! After all, they were the only ones that had an idea what would happen!
Dankwart... that thing with the eyes...
The eyes are the mirror of the soul, Grandy, and we know that this creature is out to... eat... souls.
I've told you everything I know, now it's your turn.
We were all witness to a ritual that was supposed to banish Xynthia's spirit into Sylvia's body.
However, to truly anchor the spirit in the new body, seven souls must be sacrificed to the Dark God.
If you and your men didn't disrupt the ritual, my friends and I surely would have been victims as well.
The soul of Xynthia is now wandering the halls, just waiting to find the rest of her sacrifices!
The background to this ritual is too complicated and goes too far into the past for it to be explained here and now.
With every minute we wait here we lose chances to end this entire thing!
I only understand the half of what you're saying, but I'm sure you know what you're talking about. What do you suggest we do now?
Grandy, you're the man of action in our group...



Let's... 1) ...get the hell out of here! 2) ...search for Sylvia together! 3) ...do this on our own!

The less people muck about in the castle, the better.

Nothing against you and your men, Alvaro... but the chances that more of your men fall victim to this creature are too high.
Please retreat, and my friends and I will try to take out the monster. The less potential victims are here, the better!
I'm reluctant to just run away, but you're surely right!
But we'll still post guards in the outskirts of the forests so we know who or what leaves this castle.
That way we'll have the chance to interfere if you fail.

MOVE IT MEN, WE'RE GETTING OUT OF HERE!

After that, we pick up Tarius and Libra, and the gang is back together again! Then, we get another opportunity for a little one-on-one chat with Alvaro because we have reason to believe he lied about the taxes.



Say, Alvaro... that thing with the taxes was a lie, right? Who are you really working for?
I don't serve any specific person, but the good of Düsterburg.
Wahnfried stole that throne, and we made it our task to send him back where he came from!
Pardon me, but you rather seem to act like a band of roving bandits.
Sadly there's barely any people left here that would fight the good fight.
Most of my men are sellswords from all over the world that sell their sword arm to the highest bidder!
So I have to bid more than the duke does!
I got it, Alvaro. Seems like we're working towards the same goal! I think we'll come back to you when we get the chance.
Where can we find you when the time comes?
We live in a secluded place in the forest, but don't worry: When the time comes, we'll find YOU. Here's something that could be of use to you - we took this key from one of the guards.

And we get the key to the prison cell door. That'll come in handy, I guess.

Farewell. I hope we'll see you again.

Exit Alvaro. So now we've only got one thing left to do:



And that's deal with Sylvia.



Don't worry! I'm right behind you preparing the ritual!



Tremble, you creature of darkness, for you will now step before your Dark Maker!
*another terrible scream*
Umm... OK, it was just a suggestion...
Stop talking and start fighting!

So now we've got ourselves a puzzle boss. The solution is rather simple - you just have to survive for 17 rounds, then Dankwart can cast the counter-ritual.



And since we're fucking loaded for war and overleveled to shit, we can rather easily survive as long as we just block and occasionally heal. There's a few messages during the battle letting you know that you're making progress:

Dankwart! How's it going back there? Will it take much longer?
Patience, Grandy, I'm still practicing!
PRACTICING? Are you crazy? This lady is making mincemeat out of me right now!

I don't want to push, but the potions won't last infinitely!
Please, Grandy! I have to concentrate on these formulas!

DANKWART!
Just a bit more patience, I've almost got it!

And finally...

Alright, Grandy, I'm ready! Step aside!



Then we get a flashy explosion, but Sylvia's still standing.

Da... Da... DANKWART! She's still alive! IT DIDN'T WORK!
Calm down, Grandy! The spell destroyed her magic shield! Now just throw everything you've got at her and she will fall!



Sure enough, one measly bolt from Tarius and she's done for.



Was that it?
I can't believe it! The monster is dead!

After that, we hear a low growl.

What's that sound?
That, Grandy, seems to be the spirit of Xynthia, on its way to its Dark Maker...

Now we only have one more thing left to do before we're really done, and that's deal with those poor prisoners.



And... could you solve the problem?
Yes! I think that I'm going to need the key that I got from Alvaro here... Now get going and make sure you can finally leave this castle behind!
THANK YOU SO MUCH! WE'LL NEVER FORGET WHAT YOU DID FOR US!



And as we leave, we're asked one more time if we really want to go, since we won't be able to come back, but yes, we're done here. The mystery of Castle Rabenstein is solved, but the greater mystery surrounding the supposed return of Malthur still remains.



So to come back to the theories, it seems like we almost got the right solution together, with the early "sacrifices to live forever" suggestion pretty much nailing the basics without having the knowledge to nail it further, but the one point everybody got hung up on is that Alvaro's group wasn't actually working for Wahnfried. I guess with the baby eating and the like it was just too easy to assume that yes, he's that much of a dick.

Next time, we'll go over two "what if" scenarios - "what if we completely fucked it up on Rabenstein?" and "what if we want to take the easy way to Castle Düsterburg?".